Recent Update and The Chiefs Game!

Well... So much for updating our blog all the time for family! I have been a VERY busy girl! :) Ok, not really THAT busy, it's just all about priorities, right? So here I am, trying to give the most recent update of our life! Life here in Missouri is still going pretty good. We have definitely gotten into our groove and figured out our routine. I don't know that I can completely say I have the whole med school thing down, but I think we're doing a great job figuring it out. Matt has gotten through his first couple (2... maybe 3?) of block exams and has come out mostly intact. He is working so hard and studying hard basically every day, and I am very proud of him. It is nice to be living the life we were "waiting" to live for about a year. It's a good life and Kirksville is a wonderful place to be able to call home.

As for me... Things are starting to fall into place for me as well! I'm not going to lie, I would have some minor freak outs before we moved out here that I didn't have a life here and I didn't know where I would fit. I was worried I would be the youngest, the only one without kids, or even just one who didn't really have a life and was always trying to figure it out. Well... I was wrong. Things are WONDERFUL. I know I probably talked about this earlier, but I have found such a wonderful group of girls to hang out with. I have developed relationships that I know can and will last a very long time. We get together when our boys are studying late and we typically have to be told to come home... :) There is a place for everyone here. People with or without kids, people who are 20 or 30, people who stay at home and people who work... Everyone! All of my worries were completely unwarranted because everyone is so nice here. Everyone fits in.

Another thing that helped for sure was getting a job! I was so worried I would get stuck in another position where I didn't even want to go, I didn't enjoy it, and I felt like the degree and work I've put in was for nothing. Well... I'm happy to say that I found a position that I am SO happy to have. I am working in Payroll at Truman State University. I was so lucky to find a position like this. Truman is one of, if not THE, largest employers in Kirksville. It is able to pay me good enough, offer me fabulous benefits, and possibly actually want me for my degree and experience. I've been working there for a month now, and I'm starting to understand more and not need to ask as many questions. It makes me feel like I'm contributing much more and not slowing everyone down. The people I work with are amazing though and have been so kind to me since the very beginning. I am truly blessed to be able to have this position.

To be honest, I probably haven't blogged in so long because sometimes there's not much to talk about. I could blog about our new place in Missouri (check) and my new job (check) and Matthew's school (kind of check), but the fact of the matter is, at some point we just start to do the same things day in and day out. To kind of help with the redundancy of things, we try to find fun/exciting things to do every once in awhile. Back in August... That fun thing was going to the Kansas City Chiefs game vs. the Green Bay Packers in Kansas City!

Since it was a preseason game, the tickets are much cheaper so we were able to sit closer and not in the boonies. That picture above is of the view from our seats without any zoom! We were about 27 rows up or something... Lots of fun!

The only sad thing was, the game was on a Thursday and I had to work on Friday. So we drove to Kansas City and back in one night. AH!! That probably was a pretty dumb idea but... you live and you learn. :) So on Thursday, I took off from work at about 2:30 and we drove directly to Kansas City. We had a gift card we hadn't used, so we went out to eat at Red Lobster before the game. That was super yummy! Then we drove to the stadium and got to our seats. Let me tell you, it was a preseason game, so none of the "stars" played in the game, but I was totally star-struck the whole time. "Matt, look it's Clay Matthews!" ... "Ah! Look at Aaron Rodgers running to the tunnel!!" ... "Oh man, there's Andy Reid! He's such a great coach, I love Andy Reid!" ... "Can you see Alex Smith? Ah! There he is, the one in the hat!" It was pathetic, guys, but it was so much fun. The only down side (besides driving 6 hours in one night) was it was SO HOT! I don't know what was up with that week, but it was so hot! We survived, but man, it would have been nice if it was cooler. :)

This was my picture of Vince Young. I have loved him since Texas beat USC and he ran in the game-winning touch down. I hated USC... haha too bad Vince Young got cut from the Packers the next week. :)

Overall, it was a really fun game. We were hot and we were dreading the drive home, but it was a fun game. We got to see some decent football, we saw the chiefs win (and probably became fans), and spent a fun night together with just the two of us! Here are more pictures:

The Chiefs celebrating their win!

Matthew and I after the game was over

Our newest team to cheer for. :)

I'm not going to lie, it's a lot of fun having not just one but TWO football teams to cheer for in Missouri. I know they usually say Kansas City, Kansas, but it's basically in Missouri. Since we don't have a football team in Utah, it's been kind of fun to have a "hometown team" to cheer for! Who knows, maybe I'll start watching baseball and cheer for the Cardinals too! I will never cheer for Sporting KC since I will always be a ReAl fan (and am already looking into trying to get tickets to see them play when they come out here next season), and there isn't an NBA team for us to cheer for either (but we would always cheer for the Jazz too), so we are in a good place! :)

I am going to wrap this up, but life is good! We are having fun and we have our lives figured out for the most part. Matthew has a test tomorrow and has his big block exam/midterm on Friday to kick off Fall Break next week! I obviously have to work all week, which bites, but Matt's parents are coming out to see us, and I am SO excited! I am glad Matt will have someone to keep him busy while I am at work and then hopefully we'll be able to get some fun things in at night when I get home. I will be taking Monday off, and we will be in Nauvoo on Sunday and Monday, so that will be fun to get to spend at least one full day with them! I won't make any promises, but I will try to take more pictures while they're here and update after they leave. That's it for now though.

Until Next Time!